Inspired to Create: How Awe Enhances Openness to Learning and Desire For Experiential Creation

Melanie Rudd, University of Houston, USAKathleen Vohs, University of Minnesota, USA

What spurs people to learn and create? Exploration and learning are considered fundamental human drives, and yet consumers are well-known for their cognitive miserliness. However, we predicted and found that feeling awe (vs. happiness or neutrality) enhances people’s openness to learning, thereby increasing their desire to partake in experiential creation.